SPEC CPU2006 Platform Settings for ASUSTek Systems

Firmware / BIOS / Microcode Settings

Patrol Scrub:

Patrol scrubbing is a mechanism for the memory controller to periodically read all memory locations and write back corrected data. The time interval for scrubbing the entire memory is defaulted to 24-hour period.

Intel VT for Directed I/O (VT-d):

Enable/Disable Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O (VT-d) by reporting the I/O device assignment to VMM through DMAR ACPI Tables.

Hyper-Threading[ALL]:

Enables Hyper Threading(Software Method to Enable/Disable Logical Processor threads.

SNC:

Sub NUMA Clustering (SNC) is a feature for breaking up the LLC into disjoint clusters based on address range, with each cluster bound to a subset of the memory controllers in the system. It improves average latency to the LLC and is an important pre-requisite to enabling KTI prefetch and is a replacement for the Cluster-on-Die feature found in previous processors.

IMC Interleaving:

This BIOS option controls the interleaving between the Integrated Memory Controllers (IMCs). If IMC Interleaving is set to two-way, the memory addresses will be interleaved between the two IMCs. If IMC Interleaving is set to one-way, there will be no interleaving. If SNC is enabled, you want one -way interleave. If SNC is disabled, you want two -way interleave. (See also Sub-NUMA Cluster.) Values for this BIOS option can be:

• One-way: no interleaving
• Two-way: interleaving

SR-IOV Support:

In virtualization, single root input/output virtualization or SR-IOV is a specification that allows the isolation of the PCI Express resources for manageability and performance reasons. A single physical PCI Express can be shared on a virtual environment using the SR-IOV specification. If system has SR-IOV capable PCIe Devices, this option Enables or Disables Single Root IO Virtualization Support.

ENERGY_PERF_BIAS_CFG mode:

This BIOS option allows for processor performance and power optmization. Available settings are:

• Performance: High performance with less need for power saving.
• Balanced Performance (Default Setting): Provides optimal performance efficiency.
• Balanced Power: Provides optimal power efficiency.
• Power: High power saving with less need for performance.

CPU C6 report:

Enable/Disable CPU C6(ACPI C3) report to OS. During the CPU C6 State, the power to all cache is turned off.

Package C State:

Package C-States are used to optimize or reduce CPU package power consumption in idle mode.

Optimized Performance Settings

The following setting shows the recommended BIOS setting to optimize for performance includes those performance-related BIOS options: Prefetchers, Intel HT Tech, INtel Turbo Boost Tech, Sub-Numa Clusters